Toronto, Ontario, Canada emcee/producer Raz Fresco enlisting west coast veteran DJ Muggs for what I’m pretty sure is his 16th proper full-length solo LP. I’ve been familiar with the guy since my high school years at this point whether it be some of his features or his own extensive discography including the Magneto Was Right mixtape series, the Futurewave-produced Gorgeous Polo Sportsmen album, the Nicholas Craven-produced Boulangerie album, the Cake beat tapes, the Gia…À La Carte collab EP with Estee Nack or more recently the Cookin’ Soul produced Bakin’ Soul & the Daniel Son collab effort Northside. Further continuing the acclaim of the latter 3 received, The Eternal Now seemed like there was a high chance it could surpass them since Muggs been on a roll producing projects for other artists in recent memory & helping bring the best out of them.
The title track sets the tone of what’s to come from the jazzy instrumental to the lyrics letting everyone know exactly what they’re living in at this very moment whereas luxuriously “Memory Lane” talks about people spending too much time reflecting & being nostalgic, which I wholeheartedly agree with. “Look What You Made Me Do” goes full-blown boom bap examining the darkest side of Raz’ mind prior to the orchestral “Smoke & Mirrors” talking about the game being as cold as it is.
“Blood Money” strips the drums completely feeling alive whenever the sun touches him just before the “Ghost of Garvey” featuring Gritfall & The 6th Letter finds the trio over a crooning sample flexing that they brought back Marcus Garvey’s spirit. “King Tubby” makes a turn into drumless territory once again feeling like he wants to cry for the people sometimes due to the cruelness of the world leading into “Blow Up the Spot” returning to the boom bap talking about having a nickel for every time he called out a poser for trying to be official.
Starting the 2nd leg, “Fake Beef” ruggedly warns that y’all can catch the smoke similarly to Terrell Owens & keeping the gates of Hell open reserving Heaven for the best while the dustily jazzy hybrid “World Peace” talks about the game plan trying to be taking land with their names on the building. “Pan’s Labyrinth” strips the drums once more discussing a trapped king trapped in faun’s elaborate & confusing structure while “Big Soul Assassins” returns to the boom bap representing the titular Soul Assassins collective.
“Staircase Stories” nears the end of The Eternal Now if you couldn’t tell by the title unearths his own tales from the staircases over a raw beat with an acoustic-sounding drum pattern & I found the rock sampling throughout “50 Bop” to be quite interesting allowing Raz to spaz the fuck out on the mic to the point where I can say it’s my favorite track here. “Spooky” closes the LP hopping on top of a drumless jazz sample calling himself Professor X with his mind.
Raz has already been having a Hell of a 2024 from Bakin’ Soul to Northside & surely enough, The Eternal Now reaches past Bakin’ Soul as the best full-length album in his entire discography yet. DJ Muggs’ production ranges from boom bap to drumless, jazz rap & rap rock giving a glimpse of the Toronto emcee keeping the same energy lyrically that he’s kept since the last couple projects of his that I previously covered.
Score: 9/10
